Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

Over the last couple of days we’ve been keeping ourselves quite busy. We’ve been shopping for a number of things we need for the boat – clothes mainly. We’ve also taken Ben shopping to get some clothes and shoes for work. I also bought a new camera so we can take pics that can hopefully do justice to the places we go. This turned out to be a Birthday present from the parents so thanks guys – working out well.

Yesterday we helped Ben move some of the stuff out of his apartment into our rental property’s basement. It is so useful to have this. Later, we met Sam’s girlfriend, Annie, yesterday for the first time and really liked her. We all went out for a walk in the University gardens. The weather was perfect for this. I took the new camera and hopefully the results show.

After the walk we went to the movies to watch the new Terminator movie which seemed to be enjoyed by all. After it was wings and pizza back in Jess’s apartment.

Today we’re leaving Jess’s place where we’ve stayed for the last three nights. We’re going to visit some of Helen’s friends from school then go to Anne and Johns, our friends who helped out so much when we were in transition. There we’ll get to open all the boxes that have arrived that we ordered over the internet from Dignity. Lots of ‘testing’ to do. Tuesday we’ll take Sam shopping. He didn’t think he needed much extra in the clothes department but fortunately Annie was there to advise.

It continues to feel a bit strange here in NJ. It certainly doesn’t feel as though we’ve been away for seven months in the Caribbean. It’s almost as though our life aboard Dignity exists on a different plane. I skype chatted with Jim on Bees Knees the other day and it felt like communicating between worlds. Really strange.

Big congrats to Ben for graduating from college and good luck for the next big steps in his life.

Picking up two days ago. Ben, Sam and Jess (Ben’s girlfriend) arrived at the motel soon after we had cleaned ourselves up and as all were pretty hungry (what changes?) we were off to dinner. It felt like hardly any time had passed except for the evidence of Sam’s further growth. Looks like he’ll be the tallest in the family.

After dinner we hung around a little in our motel room and chatted but soon Helen and I were tired from our travels and we parted company.

Yesterday started off with Helen and I visiting our rental property, sort out some stuff at the bank then do a little shopping. Helen popped into a supermarket to be overwhelmed by choice and I spent time drooling in BestBuy. It’s amazing what 7 months does to what’s available and pricing. Fortunately we kept pretty much to the shopping list.

Next we visited Sam in his loft, picked up lunch then headed off to Rutgers, Livingstone campus for Ben’s graduation ceremony. The weather was almost perfect – just a little too warm. On the boat we can remove more than we can get away with in NJ.

We took some great outdoor pics but the indoor ones have sadly turned out a bit grainy/blurry. Now I’m convinced we need a better camera and this is more than a little influenced by the big eyes developed during my homage at the temple of BestBuy.

Upon leaving the campus area the next order of the day was to visit Ben’s local bar to celebrate with a few beers though not a lot for me as I was driving. Next we headed off to the movies to watch the latest Star Trek movie which was a lot of fun. Now staying at Jess’s place, the evening ended with Chinese takeaway, bubbly and company.

Today and tomorrow we’ll be doing some shopping with the boys to get them some better clothes and, in Sam’s case, fill his fridge.

We’ve now arrived in NJ. After closing the final sea cocks this morning we headed ashore just before 4am where we were picked up by Mike who we only met last Saturday on the local Hash. He dropped us off at the airport where we whiled the time until take off lining up in a number of queues to deal with checking in, airport taxes, various security arrangements, etc.

The flight was uneventful. Movie was boring. The light refreshment amounted to a bag of crisps.

At JFK we picked up a hire car for the week and drove to NJ shocked at the price of the bridge toll (now $10). Oh well – it’s different economics.

With a stop off to complete our taxes we’ve finally made it to a motel near New Brunswick where we’re cleaning up and soon to meet Ben, Sam & Jesse. Looking forward to it.